


And the Road Not Taken Looks Real Good Now

by badgerling



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Cheating in the Beginning, Collapsing Houses as a Metaphor for the Universe, Collapsing Houses as a Metaphor for their relationship, First Kiss, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Injuries, No really it's consenual they're just idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 16:34:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30058359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerling/pseuds/badgerling
Summary: A collapsed house, a spur-of-the-moment kiss, and suddenly Buck knows what he wants.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 276
Collections: Finished 911 Stories I Love





	And the Road Not Taken Looks Real Good Now

**Author's Note:**

> Fox owns them, not me

Houses collapse sometimes. Especially old houses. Especially old, burning houses.

So technically, Buck did nothing wrong. He was following protocol, stepping where Bobby stepped, moving slowly through the living room of the (they hoped) empty house, but there were still rooms to check, and the family that owned the place wasn't entirely sure where their son had gone that night. Maybe he was out, maybe he was trapped in his room. The fire was out, at least, but the building was still smoking, dripping from the amount of water they poured into what had started as a small kitchen fire but had turned into a roiling inferno within minutes.

And then Buck made a mistake. Just one! The floor creaked, and he stopped moving. He held his arm out hoping he could keep Eddie back just in case something bad was about to happen, but the smoke was still too thick and Eddie stepped onto the same floorboard Buck was on. The creak turned into a crack, and Buck just had time to hear Bobby shout a warning before the floor gave out, sending Buck and Eddie into a basement they weren't even aware of.

He just had time to realize that nothing felt broken, that the basement was less of a real, finished basement and more of an unfinished mud pit, before there was a loud groan, something sounded like a muffled explosion, and the entire first floor, attic, and roof collapsed in on them.

Buck wasn't sure how long he was out after the roof fell in on them, if he even passed out, was knocked out, either one. He just knew his head hurt, everything felt fuzzy and indistinct, but he could breathe, which was probably a miracle since his mask had been knocked free sometime between the first creak of the floorboards and the roof caving in. Slowly he tested his fingers and toes, and he relaxed a little more when he could move them. He could hear Eddie trying to raise the 118 on the radio. There was no answer but static, and Buck still asked, "Anything?"

His eyes still weren't open but he heard Eddie curse in what he was pretty sure was a fairly inventive way in Spanish before he heard a scramble over what must be a pile of rubble. He cracked his eyes open just as he felt Eddie lift his shoulders, moving to pillow Buck on his legs and he grinned. Or he tried to, he hoped the expression actually worked. "Hello, beautiful," he said and got a roll of Eddie's eyes as an answer.

"I can't get anyone on the radio, and I don't know if the fall or collapse damaged the radio or if Bobby was caught in it, too. I can't dig through the rubble to find anyone else, not without risking the building coming down completely on us," and Buck could hear the panic edging around Eddie's voice. He reached up, touching Eddie's neck.

"Pretty sure Bobby got out the second the roof started creaking." Honestly, Buck wasn't sure, he knew he would have stayed if just Eddie had fallen through the floor, but Buck sometimes had a death wish and a drive to save the people that mattered the most to him. He hoped their captain had more sense than he did. He let his hand fall away from Eddie's neck, and his fingers came away bloody.

"You're bleeding?" Buck made it a question. He wasn't sure, the blood could be coming from anywhere.

"Yeah. Got knocked around pretty bad in the initial fall. I'm fine." Buck gave him a look at that.

"You really don't know that." He struggled to get his hand under him on the muddy ground, and he tried to push himself into a sitting position to better check on Eddie, but his friend just laughed, very softly and kept his arm around Buck's shoulders to keep him in place.

"We don't know how badly _you're_ injured," Eddie replied, firmly.

"No. We don't have a CAT Scan or an MRI down here, we don't know how badly you've been hur-..."

"Buck. I'm fine."

"No. You're not." And now the panic was edging into Buck's voice, and he definitely wasn't proud of it. He pushed against Eddie's grip again, actually getting free (or being let go, he couldn't tell which), but when he turned around, Eddie caught his shoulders. Buck stilled suddenly just looking at him. They stared at each other for a long moment before Buck tried just smiling.

Eddie shifted his weight then, and Buck wasn't entirely sure what decision had just been made but Eddie leaned in and pressed his mouth to Buck's. It caught him off guard. Of course it did. There were things that Buck had wanted, never voiced, but yearned for in a way that made improbable things feel absolutely impossible, and it took him a moment too long to respond to the kiss. He parted his lips but Eddie was already pulling away.

"Sorry. That was-...." Buck didn't let him finish as he moved in and kissed Eddie this time. He deepend it almost immediately as Eddie tightened his fingerson Buck's shoulders. This time when the kiss broke, both of them were breathing hard, and Eddie's hand moved up to cup his neck.

"What. Um." Buck had to take a minute to just breathe, but he was smiling slightly. "I liked that," he finally said, which sounded so stupid to his ears once he said it.

Eddie traced his thumb over Buck's cheekbone before blinking slightly and looking away. He let his hand drop as he said, "I. Buck, we can't." There was guilt on his face but all Buck felt was confusion at the sudden shift of emotion.

"You have a head injury, it's fine," Buck said, but it wasn't fine. His stomach dropped and settled into a cold feeling of dread. He cleared his throat and moved slightly trying to shift his weight and his body, not really trying to knock Eddie's hands off of him, only wincing once as he settled again. He waved off Eddie's concerned look. "Ribs might be bruised. It's going to hurt like hell tomorrow."

"That's not...it wasn't the head injury, Buck," Eddie replied, reaching out for him, but Buck just laughed. "It wasn't."

"Yeah, okay, now I know it's a concussion." Eddie just shook his head and didn't say anything else, leaving Buck to keep an eye on him and an eye out for rescue.

It felt like it took hours, but that was impossible. He had managed to keep Eddie awake, just in case he really did have a concussion, but he was already exhausted from the fall, from the emotions that two stupid kisses in the middle of a life or death moment ( _that made it cheaper, didn't it? would either one of them have done it if not for the collapsed house and no sign of rescue?_ ). Eventually, though, minutes or hours later, the rubble moved and he heard Hen call out "Buck? Eddie?"

"Here! We're here!" Buck shouted back, getting a laugh from Eddie which, at least, unknotted a tiny ball of worry that had lingered since they had stopped talking, worry that Eddie really was injured worse than he claimed. Another piece of rubble moved, and a shaft of sunlight poured in only to be blocked by Hen's form seconds later.

"Injuries?" she asked, relief and laughter evident in her voice too.

"Bruised ribs for me, Eddie's got a concussion."

"It's not a concussion," Eddie protested, reaching his hand out to cup Buck's forearm for a moment, and Buck looked down at that touch before the moment broke and Eddie let go as he turned in the direction of the sunlight and rescue.

"Don't move too fast, you're concussed," Buck said, keeping a hand on Eddie's back to steady him, which only earned him a stern look over Eddie's shoulder. It didn't take them too long for the rest of the 118 and a few other units that had shown up to help, to dig them out.

Then it was medics and check ups at the hospital and he didn't get another chance to speak to Eddie until they were both allowed back on shift, and then....

Well, and then Eddie just avoided him. He didn't run away, not really, he just always had somewhere else to be. All the long lingering looks that Buck mostly thought were in his head anyway didn't matter when Eddie just made an excuse. It was when he literally waved off Bobby's cooking because he supposedly had an emergency errand to run that Buck finally broke.

"It's because of the concussion, right?" Which didn't make sense, but it was also a convenient excuse.

"Hen looked him over pretty thoroughly. Doctors did too. It wasn't a concussion," Chim replied, setting his fork down like he expected this to last a while, before he canted his head slightly. "Why do you need Eddie to have been injured that badly?"

"I don't _need_ him to have been injured," but he did. Kind of. Because it was convenient. It would explain Eddie avoided him, it would make the kiss, all of it, just something brought on by a head injury. It was an easy out for Eddie, something that wasn't embarrassing for Buck. It was a win-win. It wasn't, not really, but Buck had become really, really good at convincing himself of things that were impossible.

"Mmhmm. I think you need to talk to Eddie about whatever is going on," he replied, gesturing vaguely at Buck, "Because it's starting to get creepy."

"Starting?" Hen chimed in, giving Buck a pointed look.

"Hey!" But they weren't wrong, and Buck knew they weren't wrong. He just needed...well. Courage.

Courage apparently just meant showing up unannounced at Eddie's apartment. 

"You kissed me." Buck probably should have actually greeted Eddie when he opened the door. He was a little worried he wouldn't have the courage left to actually have this conversation with his obviously straight (but maybe not completely, there was kissing, after all) friend if he didn't just jump right in, feet first. Straight into danger, like always.

"Hello to you too, Buck," Eddie said, picking up the slack for Buck's impulsive rudeness like always. He remained in the doorway, not closing the door in his face but not inviting him in either.

Buck offered him a breathless smile at the greeting before he continued right on in with what he needed to get off his chest. "I figure we should talk about that. And it would probably be safer when Christopher is around so that it doesn't escalate immediately into violence."

"Why do you always assume I want to hit you?" Eddie's voice was soft, quiet, and he sounded so very patient, but tired, too. And wary.

"Because neither one of us processes our emotions well, and violence tends to be easier," and Buck knew he sounded exactly like his therapist, but it was true, so he just shrugged. "You did join an illegal fight club."

"Christopher's at abuela's." Eddie's grip shifted on the door, but he still didn't open it for Buck. And this was not how he expected this to go, not that he had any idea how he had wanted this to go, but now there was something cold settling in his gut again, dread and fear. Like the fact that he had shown up had changed everything. "She and my aunt got the second vaccine two weeks ago, and, um," Eddie laughed and took his hand off the door to scratch the back of his head. "There may have been death threats if I didn't let him spend the night."

"Oh. Right. Yeah, that's...," And that just blew up Buck's whole plan, because Christopher was supposed to be the safety net to keep this conversation from getting too loud, too violent, too bloody, and now...he shook his head, shaking those thoughts away. He smiled. "No. That'll be good for him. They were top of his list." He glanced around. "I. Um, I'm just going to go."

He stepped back, but he didn't get far. Eddie was faster than Buck thought, and he caught Buck's wrist before he could walk away. Buck was off balance, that was the only reason that Eddie was able to pull him into his apartment so easily. That's what he was going to say if anyone asked, but Eddie pulled him into the apartment, closed the door behind them, and he shoved Buck against the door.

He wasn't gentle, and he dug his fingers into Bucks' shoulders to hold him in place, and there was a moment, just a crazy, stupid moment where he thought something might happen. Where he wanted something to happen. He needed it to happen. Eddie pushed in closer, crowding into Buck's space, and Buck crowded back. He leaned down, and Eddie's fingers tightened, and Buck pushed against his grip, not enough to break it, not really, but he was trying...hell. He was trying to provoke something.

It didn't work, and Eddie just let go of his shoulders with one final shove against the door as he stepped back but not away.

"You want coffee?" Like it was just an everyday conversation. Buck was panting. That was embarrassing. Nothing had even happened. He didn't move from the door until he managed to get his breathing under control. "Buck?" He lifted his eyes from the floor to Eddie, and he shook his head slightly as he shrugged. Eddie just gave him a confused look and stepped back to walk away, but Buck was quicker this time.

He moved forward, crowding back into Eddie's space like there was nowhere else he would rather be, like there was nowhere else he belonged. His hands came down to Eddie's hips, steering him around until he could press Eddie against the wall next to the door. He didn't shove Eddie against it, but Buck pressed forward, moving until Eddie was flush with the wall, then flush with him, and their legs were tangled together, and Buck's mouth found Eddie's.

Their first kiss had been rushed, spur of the moment, awkward, like either or both of them could have died at any moment, but this? This was heaven.

Eddie's hands came up to his waist, his fingers tangling in Buck's t-shirt, and Buck slid his hands up so his fingers could tangle in Eddie's hair, simply to have something to hang on to. Eddie tugged Buck's shirt up, baring a strip of skin to Eddie's fingers. Even that tough sent pleasure shooting through Buck's body to pool in his groin.

He broke the kiss with a groan, pressing as close to Eddie as he could get. He was practically squirming, the hardness in his jeans pressing against Eddie's thigh, and every time he moved, Buck made a sound that was frankly embarrassing. Less embarrassing, though, when Eddie made an answering noise that seemed to vibrate through both of them.

"What do you want from me?" Eddie's voice sounded ragged, rough, and Buck was sure that if he tried to talk, he would sound just as desperate.

Buck dropped to his knees without answering, though, and his fingers made quick work of Eddie's belt. He popped open the button of his jeans, and there he stopped. He pressed a kiss to the soft skin just under Eddie's navel before sitting back on his heels to look up at Eddie. He swallowed a little, one corner of his mouth turning up in a smile as he ran his hands over Eddie's thighs.

"You're going to have to tell me to stop." He shook his head slightly. "If you want me to stop, I need you to say it." It was one of those things. Consent, yes, but also this was his best friend, and it was still rolling in Buck's mind that he was going to ruin this - the friendship, whatever this was where they kiss and Eddie's dick presses against Buck's thigh in ways that made him squirm.

"Buck." It wasn't really a question, but it wasn't really a statement either. Eddie reached down, his fingers slipping in Buck's hair briefly, tugging gently before he took his hand away. There was nothing but confusion in Buck's mind at that. Was that the 'no', the 'get out'? But Eddie's hand moved to his waist and he pulled the zipper down. He shifted his weight, moving enough so he could push his pants down.

He looked down at Buck, and he had no idea what he looked like to Eddie. Lips parted, breathing heavier with each movement of Eddie's hands, probably totally desperate and undone. All of those thoughts went out of his head when Eddie pushed his boxer briefs down, hands suddenly moving slower as if he was intentionally putting on a show, intentionally teasing Buck.

"Eddie-," but whatever else Buck ended to say was lost when Eddie pulled his dick out, when Eddie slid his hand down the length of it, when a tiny bead of precome leaked from the head, and Buck wasn't even entirely sure when he moved back forward. It was the most natural thing in the world, though, just as natural as reaching up to wrap his hand around Eddie and lick the slit in the head just for a taste.

Eddie made a startled noise, and his hand came down to Buck's shoulder. Buck laughed, his breath ghosting over Eddie's cock causing his hips to jerk slightly and Eddie to groan out, "If you are just teasing...," but there was no actual threat in those breathless, rough words. Buck grinned up at him, keeping eye contact as he moved forward again taking the head of Eddie's cock in his mouth.

They were both lost to the sensations after that, and eventually Eddie's eyes squeezed shut and Buck had to close his own eyes just so he could feel the way Eddie's cock, heavy and perfect on his tongue, was throbbing and seemed to only get harder in his mouth. Inch by inch, Buck took him all in and out, striking up the perfect rhythm. Eddie's hand moved from Buck's shoulder to the back of his head, steadying him, supporting him, letting Buck angle his head and mouth and throat to take him even deeper.

The hand that wasn't still wrapped around Eddie's dick dropped into his own lap, rubbing against the bulge in his jeans that was starting to get uncomfortable. He only stopped moving that hand when Eddie's fingers tightened in his hair and tugged to get his attention.

"No," he said after a moment of swallowing in order to actually be able to speak.

Buck had to move back then, taking his mouth off of Eddie to ask in confusion, "No?"

"I want...," Eddie started, but he had to trail off as if he was having trouble actually focusing on words. "I want to see." He swallowed again. "I want to see you. When you finish." There was a moment of perplexed arousal on Eddie's face as he spoke, though, before he shook his head. Buck grinned, fast and wild, before he took head in his mouth again.

Eddie cursed and let his head fall back, thumping against the wall, as Buck picked up his rhythm again, and it wasn't long before his fingers were tangled in Buck's hair again. He at least tried to warn Buck, tried to use the grip on his hair to pull him back, but Buck pressed forward, taking him into his mouth as much as possible.

He knew Eddie was close, knew he didn't want to miss anything, and when Eddie came with a shout, spilling into Buck's mouth, he actually wasn't sure he was going to be able to swallow it all. He tried, though, but when he sat back on his heels again, he had to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. He also couldn't look up at Eddie either.

It wasn't that he was ashamed about what he had just done, but he worried Eddie was. That was those issues that he was still dealing with, issues that were harder to get over than just being essentially abandoned by his family, that he was a disappointment, not good enough, not worth it, and all of those thoughts stopped suddenly when Eddie reached down and touched his shoulder, urging him to stand.

Buck complied, rising to his feet and finding himself pulled into Eddie's arms. He didn't even protest when he found Eddie's mouth pressed to his. Even with the fear that Eddie was going to be disgusted by the taste of himself in Buck's mouth, on his tongue, all of that went away when Eddie deepened the kiss. Buck was pretty sure he was seeing stars by the time the kiss broke because they both needed to breathe, but he still chased the kiss until Eddie was pressed against the wall again.

He finally had to press his hands against the wall just to push himself back and away from Eddie. He kept his head bowed just to keep from continuing to kiss him because it was rapidly becoming yet another addiction that Buck was going to have trouble getting over. Of course he didn't pull away when Eddie ducked his head and caught Buck's mouth again, deepening the kiss almost immediately.

Buck lifted his hand to cup Eddie's neck, thumb tracing over the pulse point, and he suddenly found himself fascinated by the pounding of Eddie's heart. This time the kiss broke because Buck couldn't stop smiling.

"What?" Eddie asked, the question soft, and he was fighting a smile of his own.

"Your heart's pounding."

"And that's funny?" Eddie narrowed his eyes, but the smile was still tugging at his mouth.

"It's because of me, so yeah. Kinda." A good kind of funny though, the kind that he had never actually expected to experience.

Eddie opened his mouth to respond to that, but he ended up just shaking his head with a soft laugh. He let his hand fall to take Buck's free hand before pulling him towards the kitchen. "Coffee. We need to talk."

"It seems a little late for talking, you know." When Eddie looked back at him with his eyebrows raised, Buck shrugged. "I had your dick in my mouth."

"That's not a conversation, Buck," Eddie said, letting go of his hand just to pull up his pants, zipping and buttoning them as he stepped into the kitchen, and appearing to do a valiant effort of ignoring Buck's sound of protest.

"You tried to have a conversation, though," Buck said, moving to sit at the table, leaving Eddie to worry about making the coffee. Buck's mind wasn't exactly focusing on anything beyond what they had just done, beyond his own still half-hard cock, beyond the fact that Eddie had kissed him multiple times.

"That was dirty talk. Not a conversation," Eddie replied, lifting his eyebrows before he turned to focus on getting the coffee pot ready.

"You said you wanted to see me," Buck said, half smiling, half smirking, all teasing as Eddie finished with the coffee pot and turned back to him. Buck sat back in his chair, his hand coming down to massage his groin, urging his cock back to attention, as he spread his legs just to make sure Eddie could see. Eddie's lips parted, and it seemed like he wanted to say something, but his eyes were drawn to Buck's hand as Buck undid his own jeans and pulled his cock out.

He kept his eyes on Eddie as he started to stroke himself, shifting to try to push his pants down a little so he could slip his other hand between his legs, stroking his balls before slipping further to press again his entrance, and that movement was what spurred Eddie forward. His hand wrapped around Buck's on his cock as he crowded close.

"I thought you said you want to watch?" Buck tried to make it innocent, but Eddie was touching him, and it was electric, and Buck was already having trouble breathing.

"I said I wanted to see." Eddie leaned in close, pressing his mouth to Buck's just briefly as if to keep him from arguing as he stroked him harder, using both of their hands to do, and it wasn't like Buck was going to argue. Words had already dissolved into small sounds that were vaguely desperate. "There's a difference." Buck just nodded, trying to lean into Eddie to kiss him, but he couldn't get his breath long enough.

He had to settle for burying his face against Eddie's neck, breathing hard and heavy against his skin until he came spilling out over their joined hands. And his clothes, but that was just incidental and something Buck would worry about later. He collapsed back into the chair as Eddie pulled his hand away. He grinned suddenly, lifting his eyebrows before he licked his fingers clean and stepped back.

Buck groaned and flopped back against the back of the chair. "You're going to kill me." Eddie just laughed before moving to get them both a cup of coffee.

"Pull your pants up," he replied as he placed the coffee in front of Buck and took the seat next to him. He didn't say anything else as Buck just rolled his eyes and sighed, standing up just enough to pull his pants up before he flopped back into the chair. Eddie hid his smile in his coffee cup as he just looked at Buck for a moment, and Buck just smiled back at him. "I broke up with Ana."

"Shit." That killed the mood. Completely. Buck hadn't even spared a thought for her after the collapsed building, after that kiss, after Eddie had started avoiding him. "Fuck, I didn-...." But Eddie held up his hand to stop whatever Buck had been planning on saying, even he didn't know.

"What I did, it wasn't fair to her. Hell, it wasn't fair to you either, but...." Eddie's mouth opened once or twice, but he finally settled for shrugging. "I had to do that first."

"First."

"I couldn't talk to you without wanting you, okay? Without...without thinking about that kiss, and that was torture," Eddie replied, looking up from his coffee cup to meet Buck's eyes. "So I had to talk to Ana first. She deserved that. I...before I could have this, I had to do that."

"This." Buck had to take a deep breath because he didn't actually want to say what he needed to say next. "This doesn't have to be anything. If you don't want it to be." He understood what Eddie was saying, what he was just admitting to giving up, but there was still a very small piece of Buck that didn't think he deserved it. Therapy hadn't cleared that away yet.

Eddie narrowed his eyes, but he shook his head. "Is that what you want?"

"Fuck. No, but...," and he trailed off as Eddie reached out and touched his wrist.

"A house fell on us, Buck. Pretty sure that might be that universe thing you're always talking about."

Buck smiled then. "Universe, huh?"

"Shut up or I won't let you stay."

"You want me to move in already? That might be moving too fast," but Buck was smiling as he said it.

"Just until Albert moves in with Veronica or they break up or he gets his own place."

"Mmhmm," Buck replied, but his smile still hadn't died. Well, until his next thought. "Christopher?"

"He's a smart kid. He'll figure it out, but, um, maybe you need to act like you're sleeping on the couch until I figure out how to explain," Eddie took a deep breath, exhaling loudly before he finished, "How to explain everything." It was probably a lot, it couldn't look good for Eddie to move so fast from Ana to Buck, to say nothing of the gender issue.

Buck was quiet for a moment before he finally said, "I'm not going anywhere. You've got me. Had me for a while, probably, but the universe conspired to keep us apart." He flashed a quick grin then before he stood up just enough to lean across the table to kiss Eddie.

"The universe, huh?"

"You also need to figure out how to tell the 118," and he tapped his tongue against his teeth as he grinned then.

"Me!?" But Eddie was laughing too as he pulled Buck into his lap. "We need to shower. You need a change of clothes. We need to sleep." He kissed Buck quickly. "We're picking up Christopher before noon. If we're late, they will show up here, and that is not the ideal way I want to tell Christopher about us.

"Or your grandmother."

"Let's save that for Thanksgiving." Buck just laughed as he kissed Eddie again before pulling him to his feet.


End file.
